Green tea has a reputation as being useful to those suffering from hair loss, where does that reputation come from, and is it true. We take a closer look.
Green Tea In History
In fact, green tea is something of a simplification as a description. All green tea is made with leaves from the Camellia Sinensis, which itself has many varieties and all are used to produce slightly different green teas. Beyond the source material the principal difference between green tea when compared to oolong or black tea, is that they are not subjected to the dessication and oxidation inflicted on the others. This, in theory, makes for a healthier version of the beverage due to more of the original complexity being retained through the production process.
The popularity of green tea in it’s original homeland of China, is credited to a book written by Lu Yu somewhere between 600 and 900AD. A later book, still some 800 years old, described how the consumption of green tea could affect five organs… along with a complete how-to guide on the horticulture of the plant.
Benefits
We know more about the complicated make-up of green tea than ever before. We know that it contains many more flavanoids and catechins than other foods considered healthy. A typical serving of one cup is of course almost entirely water, with one part in a thousand being something else. As well as those catechins and flavanoids there are phytochemicals like caffeine and polyphenols.
Green tea is imbued with an amazing array of health related properties, we are concentrating on those claims that relate to hair loss. Starting with that impressive list of compounds as the basis for it’s reputation as an anti-inflammatory, it is claimed that they combine to offer some protection against hair loss. One polyphenol in particular, with the name Epigalletocatechin Gallate, EGCG, has serious claims made around its specific benefits for hair loss. In addition, we have seen claims that the antioxidants are able to destroy free radicals, which in turn are claimed to reduce circulation… so the theory predicts that improved circulation will improve supply of nutrients to the follicles.
Used as a rinse for your hair it has more benefit, its anti-bacterial properties, they say, can rid you of fungal parasites on your scalp.
HIS Hair Clinic
Nothing in the last 800 years since the legend of green tea was born has proved it. Even with our modern tools we are only able to better understand what comprises green tea. The whole science around free radicals has recently been challenged and nobody has shown that those flavanoids and catechins have any health benefits, of any kind, let alone for your hair. Drink green tea if you like it, it is almost certainly the healthiest of drinks around. But we are basing that on the absence of harmful ingredients as much as anything else.
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